Subj : Interesting article... To : Heavy Metal From : ceri@twmba.net Date : Thu Nov 11 2004 10:19 am From: "Rai" ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Found at ... http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0406156.htm Rai VATICAN-INQUISITION Nov-9-2004 (460 words) xxxi Vatican joins Italian project to inventory Inquisition archives By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- To assist international research on "the control of religious ideas in medieval and modern Europe," the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is participating in an inventory of archival material on the Inquisition. Archbishop Angelo Amato, secretary of the doctrinal congregation, signed a collaboration agreement Nov. 9 with representatives of the Italian Ministry of Cultural Goods and the University of Trieste's Center for Research on the Inquisition. Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said the project will attempt to catalog documents held in church, state and private archives, as well as Italian and foreign libraries. The documents will include those related to the Roman Inquisition, which began in the 16th century, the earlier Spanish Inquisition and similar trials conducted by secular authorities for "heresy, witchcraft and other crimes against the faith," the Vatican spokesman said. The inventory is meant not only to safeguard the documentation, "but also will facilitate knowledge in many fields of research, from the history of religious and scientific doctrines, to that of popular cultures, 'spontaneous holiness' and censorship, as well as the systems of social control between the medieval age and modern times," Navarro-Valls said. Creating a unified catalog of the material in church, state and private hands will make it easier for scholars to find the information they need for their research, he said. The Nov. 9 agreement was the second bringing the doctrinal congregation and the Italian government together on Inquisition research. In December 2002 the Italian ministry agreed to finance the creation of an electronic inventory of the congregation's historical archive, which contains documents related to the Inquisition, the Reformation, the Enlightenment and other chapters of history. The Vatican sponsored an in-depth study on the Inquisition in 1998, and in June it published the contributions of more than 30 specialists who spoke at the 1998 symposium. The book included a letter from Pope John Paul II reaffirming the church's "spirit of repentance" as it reflects on how Christians turned to "methods of intolerance and even violence in the service of the truth." Antonio Borromeo, who edited the volume, told reporters that the scientific rigor shown during the symposium would modify some popularly held beliefs about the Inquisition. In particular, he said, the "recourse to torture and to the death penalty were not so frequent as was long believed." As an example, he said that out of approximately 125,000 cases tried by the Spanish Inquisition 1 percent resulted in the death penalty. Citing statistics on the number of women burned at the stake during the European "witch hunts" over several centuries, Borromeo cited one study that showed that fewer than 100 were executed by the Inquisition, compared to approximately 50,000 executed on the order of civil tribunals. END Copyright (c) 2004 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed. CNS ú 3211 Fourth St NE ú Washington DC 20017 ú 202.541.3250 --- * Origin: TransNet Gateway 2.11+ 1111 (3:640/1010) .